Who Are You, Really?
by underfaller
Summary: Before the events of Gravity Falls, Bill Cipher was a totally different demon. Uncorrupted and innocent, all he wanted was to become a third dimension guardian with his adopted younger sister, Irene "Iris" Cipher. But things change and power corrupts and as the decades past, Bill finds that he's meant for more than guarding- he wants to be a god. Here is the origin of Bill Cipher
1. Prolouge- The End of the World

The girl was running.

She couldn't stop.

Around her, everything was chaos. The second dimension- once the Eden of this universe- was a fiery inferno. The flames, sparked by his hatred and anger built up from the decades, consumed everything in it's way, whether it were demons or buildings. But the most horrid thing was the sky. What was once a beautiful myriad of watercolor streaks and sparkling dimensions millions of miles away, was now a dark, decaying brown. The only color came from the ugly slashed X- as if someone had hacked their way through their dimension with butcher knife. Weirdness dripped from the X, ready to cause havoc to dwellers below.

Horrid, broken screams flooded her ears and she felt the urge to help the ones who issued them, even though she knew it was impossible...Or maybe not. Part of her wanted to join them. To give up on her knees and sob. Her lungs burned and her throat felt like it would crack if she took another smoke- filled breath. She would've screamed if her lungs weren't already dead from running so fast.

The girl clenched her eyes and raced past these things, the tears she wanted to shed still dry in her eyes. What could she do? Before, she and Bill had been equal in power and skill, but after the incident, he could (and would) kill her before she lifted a finger.

 _Almost there…_

The cliff was now in viewing distance. It wasn't an ordinary ledge- it was the rift between the second and third dimension, the only one left open. The greatest secret the Cipher family held. It was where she'd come from, where everything started, and where everything would end. At the edge, the girl stretched out her hand and snapped her fingers. A bright, orange flame ignited. Her fingers trembled for a second, but she took a deep breath, she had to hurry, there was not time for hesistation, it was only a matter of time-

"Hahaha!" Bill laughed. "Isn't this interesting?"

The girl whirled around. The yellow triangle gave her a wave and tipped his hat. _Snappy dresser. Liar monster._ Seeing the black top hat caused a rush of memories to flood the girl's mind. The joy of his face when he pulled it from the poorly wrapped box, his real laugh, the one that wasn't lined with cruelty, the Bill that wasn't a sadistic monster. _Get it together, stop getting distracted._ His eye winked. No longer could she see the warmth and humor he'd always possessed. No, this was no longer the Bill she knew.

Bill clapped his hands and laughed once more. "This is hilarious! Didn't you think I would know your plan? Did you honestly think you could run?"

Bill disappeared in a flash, reappearing on her shoulder. "Under that cape and magic, you're still a puny human! Predictable and nothing but a worthless flashbag. If you didn't have what I want, I would've killed you long ago, Irene!" He waved his hand and a bright red light surrounded Irene, suspending her in mid-air.

"Shut it, Bill! You know I'll never do it!" Irene yelled, struggling to break free. "You've destroyed our whole dimension, you killed Mom and Dad, you murdered Will! You're insane!"

"I guess I am! I don't feel one bit bad about it either! They deserved it, doubting me like that! Boy, I really showed them, huh?" Bill crackled. He seemed to find this whole situation a joke. "C'mon, join me! Give up the hero act! You know you love the fun as much as I. Then you wouldn't have to give up your power! It'd be such a hassle and quite frankly, a shame killing you." His eye glared red for a second. "But I wouldn't hesitate to."

He held out a small, black hand, blue flames shrouding it. Irene looked at Bill with disgust. "Fuck you."

Bill's smile disappeared in mock reprimanding. He rolled his eye. "Language, little sis." With a swift motion of his hand, Irene felt herself be thrown like a ragdoll and slammed into a nearby tree. Her head exploded and stars danced across her line of vision. Ignoring the metallic blood rising in her mouth, she struggled to stand up. _I'm not going to let you win…. I'm not going to lose this one…._ Bill's shadow loomed over her as he grew into a giant, red pyramid.

"Let's play, Iris, one more time."


	2. Bottom of the Bottomless Pit

Chapter 1: The Bottom of the Bottomless Pit

? Years, 24 days, 31 minutes earlier (it's hard converting time between dimensions…)

"I'm not a scaredy-cat!" Irene squeaked defiantly. "I just don't want to."

The teenagers sniggered. "That's exactly what a scaredy-cat would say. Should've known you weren't cool enough to do it….."

They continued to mock the flushed nine year old. It was a warm, regular Saturday in Gravity Falls, Oregon and the four orphans had snuck away to the edge of the forest. The forest had always been a mysterious element in the small town. While the town was sleepy and painstakingly boring, the forest was its opposite. More than once had Irene heard townspeople talk of…. weird happenings they'd seen in the woods. These stories both excited and scared her. One claimed that there was a huge crystal to the west, capable of shrinking or enlarging anything. Surrounding it, were tiny deer that fit in your hand and huge butterflies the size of cars, victims of the magic. Another spoke of a civilization of gnomes with a queen as their ruler in the east.

But that wasn't where they were. Facing them was an ominous black. Replacing the tall, green pine trees and sycamores were dark, dead branches and unearthly silence. Not a chirp or rustle issued. It's rumored that anyone who went into these parts of the woods, never returned.

Irene wouldn't say it, but she was scared. Who would want to go into a creepy, dark forest alone? The idea was stupid, she wasn't suicidal.

But, on the other hand, if she did this, Don, Ava, and Ella promised to let her into their gang. Isn't that what she wanted? To have some friends? A few minutes of fear wasn't that bad, right? She sighed. She had always been a pushover.

Irene took a deep breath. "Fine, I'll do it," she mumbled.

"Woo hoo! The little pipsqueak doesn't have cold feet after all," Don said. He leaned an elbow on Irene's head. "Remember, it's only ten minutes, you stick it out, you can hang out with us."

"Yeah, if she survives," Ella joked.

"Whatever," Irene said, puffing out her chest, trying to look braver than she felt. "This is going to be a piece of cake."

She stepped cautiously onto dead grass. It crinkled underneath her loudly and she turned to look back at her new friends.

"What are you waiting for?" called Ava. "Hurry up!"

Irene continued walking deeper into the forest. She didn't notice the three teenagers darting away the opposite direction, grinning and giggling softly.

Bill Cipher was tired. He'd spent all day studying and practicing his magic. His fingers ached from getting burned too many times and his vision a little blurred from reading the small print of the worn textbooks in the library.

That's why he thought it was totally unfair that he had to go on watch tonight. He rubbed his eye groggily, hovering over the desolate cliff. Why couldn't Will do it? He was much better at it, better than Bill could and would ever want to be. He actually liked being a guardian. _Oh right, because he's the favorite._ He picked up a nearby stone and thrust it over the edge. There was a moment of silence before it reappeared again hitting Bill in the forehead.

"Owww," he said, rubbing the tender spot. He looked under. Scattered images of random scenes, animals, and humans flashed quickly across the bottom like scattered scenes of a movie. The third dimension. Since the time it was born, the Cipher family had been the guardians of it. They were the ones that kept everything in check, from the laws of physics to the gravitational forces of earth.

Bill scoffed. He'd never admit it aloud- his father would incinerate him on the spot- but their guarding was absolutely useless. What good was it if demons couldn't interact with their dimension? Sure, they could wander the mindscape, but even then talking to humans was illegal, punishable by exile. And also, like all rules, the third dimension's laws were plain stupid. Too restricting, no room for fun. Nope, it was just watch and observe. Why he even had to study for this job was a mystery to him.

Bill carelessly juggled an orange flame, adding one more each minute. The more distracted he was, the better. All he had to do was not die of boredom for the next few hours.

Irene shuffled through the decaying foliage, pushing back dry branches that block her way. It had been much longer than ten minutes, however, she couldn't find the path from which she came. Irene tried not to panic, but after crossing the same tree again the third time, she knew she was hopelessly lost.

"Well… maybe they'll come try to find me," Irene said, trying to comfort herself, walking again, this time in a hopefully different direction. Her hand clenched the gold locket around her neck, a habit she'd formed when she was scared or stressed. "Maybe they're already looking for me."

A dim, yellow light caught her eye. She turned her head to see it shining through one of the gaps in the trees. Sunlight. She grinned, maybe she wasn't so lost after all! Irene started running. "Guy! I'm here! I did it! See, I told you I could-"

Irene stopped abruptly. This wasn't where she'd started. She looked around. What was this place? The clearing was huge, not a tree in sight. It was hauntingly beautiful. Warm light beamed on her and she squinted from its brightness. In the middle of the field she then saw, was a huge pit.

"Whoa," Irene breathed, pacing towards it. Even from here, she could see it was deep. Maybe over a hundred feet. Why was it in a place like this? Was it man-made? An abandoned construction project? Why would someone need such a ginormous hole?

Irene knew she should stay back. The last thing she wanted was to fall in. But something about this pit intrigued her, like an unknown force was beckoning her to come closer. She felt an irresistible urge to see what this phenomenon was. Now at the foot of the pit, Irene observed it. Pitch black. It looked like a mouth ready to swallow her up, so deep, she wondered if it even had an end.

A flash of orange light appeared faintly illuminating the dark. Irene's eyes widened. What was that? She looked harder. There it was again, then another, and another. She got on her knees. The supernatural interested her and theories began to form rapidly in her mind. She leaned in closer.

That's when her hand slipped. Irene's heart jumped in her throat and she stumbled to regain her balance. But the dirt was loose and Irene's hand clenched at air before she was engulfed, screaming, by the darkness below.

Bill was adding the twelfth fireball to his juggling act when an unknown force knocked him to the floor. "What the hell?" He groaned in pain, the fire extinguishing in thin air. He was sure he hadn't thrown a boulder down that cliff. "Ughhh…" he said, rubbing his right side.

Then he saw her.

Bill quickly straightened up. His eye full of shock. "What are you- how are you get- why are you here?" He stuttered. Demons were fluent in almost every language, it was just something they learned. For once, he was grateful for it. _Of course, of course when I'm on duty something like this happens._

The human looked more scared than him. She stared at him for awhile and silence fell upon them. The only sound was the rustling of the pine trees overhead.

"Wow, let's just stare at each other in awkward silence," Bill said sarcastically.

The human looked taken aback by his tone. She opened her mouth, then closed it, then asked in a curious, but bold voice,

"Are you a talking Dorito?"


	3. Unraveled Thoughts

**A lot of authors post author notes and I realize I haven't been doing that. So here it is, the first author's note! This chapter was kind of inspired by the deleted scene where Bill sees Dipper in a dream (you can see it on Youtube). Nothing much, just setting things up, and hoping this will stay on course and not fall of the plan railroad and crash into a mountain or something. (Is this long enough, am I boring you?) Alright, enough of me talking, just read the chapter.**

 **Also, I don't think we've formally met. So…. um…. Hi?**

 **Chapter 2- Unraveled Thoughts**

"They're chips. They taste like nacho cheese," the human was explaining.

Bill paced back and forth above it, thinking of his next move. Sending her back was impossible. Second dimension-ers could only interact with the third through the mindscape. He'd tried pushing her off the cliff, which ended with it hitting his harder in the face than the rock. (Hence, the black eye) Should he tell his family? That was the best option, only the fact that his parents would be furious at him. But he couldn't just leave her, the gateway was in one of the most dangerous parts of second, she wouldn't survive the night. He squeezed his eye with his thumb and index finger. He looked down at the human, still chattering away. It was taking this pretty well. After finally getting her to talk, he instantly regretted it. Now he just wanted it to shut up. He sighed. He didn't have a choice, she'd be found anyway, might as well get it over with. What a nuisance! _Only because a dead body would be an even bigger hassle to take care of, I really don't care about its wellbeing._ He chided himself. Humans were the scum of all dimensions, with their fragile minds and short lives. Just another reason why protecting the third was a lost cause.

He grabbed its hand. "C'mon Iris, I know where you can get help.

"Where? And my name's Irene," The human said, shaking her hand from his. "And how can I just trust you? You're basically a stranger."

 _So. It isn't as trusting and naive as I thought._ Bill shrugged. "Fine, you can stay here alone. You're just a pain anyway. Say hello to the Omni for me."

"The… Omni?"

"Oh, just the insane monster that lives around here that eats anything it sees. Well, bye!" t Bill waved and continued on.

In the corner of his eye, he could see the human uneasy look of fear and he chuckled. He wasn't lying. There WAS a monster here, it just didn't eat humans. Or did it? There's a first for everything.

"Hey, wait up!" The human ran up beside of him. "I guess... I'll come."

Bill smirked. "Though so."

…

The walk was a short one. Bill floated a step ahead of her always, deliberately ignoring her. She felt uncomfortable, this place, the _second dimension_ , she was a stranger in it. An outsider. A misfit, even more so here than back home. Bill wasn't making it any better with his cynical tone and cryptic replies. But then again, he had a right to be annoyed with her- she was intruding on his home, and from what he's said, her presence was not making his life any easier. Still, she'd try to break the ice, but that had failed miserably. Irene sighed, she hoped she'd be able to leave this place soon.

Or that's what she thought she hoped. It was weird. This place. Although she'd only been there for a short time, Irene felt like this was more of a home than Gravity Falls. It was beautiful. The short distance they'd walked, Irene had spotted bizarre and extraordinary creatures- a pure, white unicorn with hair lined with every color of the rainbow, a gnome with a cone hat eating what looked like a raspberry. When it had saw her, Irene could see the shock in its bulging eyes before it scurried away. Guess, humans were a rare sight here.

But the sky- that was the true beauty. There was no sun, instead it was lit by twinkling lights, resembling stars. Except they weren't. They were larger and all different shapes and colors, each varying in its own unique way.

"Their other dimensions," Bill said, answering her thoughts.

Irene cocked her head. It was the first time he'd talked since they'd started their trek. "How did you….?"

Bill stopped so they could walk together. "Telepathy. All demons have it. I can see everything in your mind. EVERYTHING. " He was silent for a moment. "Hmmm… Let's see… you're a... What's the colloquial term? That's right, a nerd. No real friends, orphan. Spend most time thinking about codes and encryptions and ohh, a _boy._ My, my Iris, _scandalous._ "Even without a mouth, Irene could see he was grinning.

Irene gaped at him. "Hey, stop that. That's private!" _Stop reading my mind, stop reading my mind, stop reading my mind…._

"Sheesh, kid! Fine! I was joking," He exclaimed, raising his arms in surrender. "Reading minds takes too much effort anyway."

"So, what's his name?"

"Bill!"

They came to a halt at a small house. It looked just like the houses she'd seen, the only difference was the door. It was a triangle, suspended four feet in the air.

"Well, we don't get many humans here," Bill unlocked the door, opening it gently. "Human doors would be difficult for a family of triangles. But, I think you'll fit."

Irene hoisted herself up after Bill. It wasn't hard, living in Gravity Falls meant having a lot of trees to climb. She'd had experience.

Bill shut the door behind her. "Stay here, I'll get my dad."

Xolotl's eyes snapped open. He'd felt it. This feeling, excitement, thrill, the urge to wreak chaos. He teleported to his mirror, waving a skeletal hand over it, a grin slowly spreading over his face. The millennium. Another thousand years. Another chance. He laughed to himself. This time, he was sure he would succeed. This time- the second would fall.

He just needed a pawn.

A thousand images flashed upon the mirror's surface. _No too dumb, too righteous, too cunning..._

One image caught his attention, he raised his hand. The images stopped flashing.

A demon and a human. He choked. A human in the second dimension? By the looks of it, the demon was supposed to be the third dimension guardian and doing an absolutely _wonderful_ job at it.

He watched the demon for a while. Thoughts and information sped through his head. Bill Cipher. Younger brother of Will Cipher. Son of Herold and Julie Cipher. Cynical and sarcastic, but determined and driven.

Xolotl continued to look, a sickening smirk slowly forming. This Bill, there was something inside him, something that _festered_ , and he planned to make use of it.


End file.
